Florida Evolution Academic Freedom Bill Moves Forward

The Florida Academic Freedom bill has moved forward today past Florida's Senate Judiciary Committee. It has now been approved by both Senate committees and will soon get a vote on the floor of the Florida Senate. Unfortunately, the Florida newsmedia continues to misrepresent the bill, as the Orlando Sentinel wrongly claimed that, under the bill, "Florida teachers could mention religious theories about human origins."

The Florida newsmedia seems to be taking their talking points directly from Florida Citizens for Science. If one reads the text of the bill, it's clear that it only protects the teaching of "scientific information" and does not cover the teaching of religion. Darwinist groups have attacked the academic freedom bill as being "smelly crap" or "Just Dumb." I explained recently what is really going on here:

Those who are interested in academic freedom legislation should have no misconceptions about what is really happening here: For the Darwin-skeptics, this is about upholding the important value of academic freedom and the freedom to pursue legitimate scientific inquiry. For the Darwinists who oppose the bill, this battle is about falsely appealing to people's emotions and fears in order to suppress the teaching of scientific information that challenges evolution.

Apparently the "smelly crap" that is "dumb" is moving forward in the Florida legislature. Academic freedom legislation has also been submitted in Missouri and Louisiana.